The First Step in Seattle's Preschool-for-Everyone Plan

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray believes that making preschool free or at least affordable for all families in Seattle would be his most important work in office. But he doesn’t want to rush it.

On Thursday he proposed placing a four-year, $58 million property-tax levy on the November ballot that would focus first on boosting the quality of existing programs, then on ramping up enrollment.

The “demonstration phase” would fund preschool for 2,000 children in 100 classrooms by 2018, according to the plan he submitted to the City Council on Thursday.

“Giving all of our children a fair and equal chance to thrive in school, to live productive and prosperous lives is, again, the most important thing that I will ever do as mayor,” Murray said at a news conference.

The cost would be about $43 a year for the owner of a Seattle home valued at $400,000, according to the city.

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